Note 326:1 — Chapter XV · THE PSEUDO-ISIDORIAN DECRETALS AND THE PAPAL CONSTITUTION
Reading edition
A decretal, in the strict canonical sense, is an authoritative rescript of a Pope given in reply to some question propounded to him, just as a decree is an ordinance enacted by him, with the advice of his clergy, but not drawn from him by previous inquiry. See Gieseler, pd. 2, ch 3; Cath. Encyc.